Free Wolf's Ascension by Lauren Dane

everything they’d all been saying was true and the hysteria that had been building just melted away. She might be sorry later but this all just felt right. In any case, if she was going to turn into a freaking mythological creature tomorrow night, she’d need help.
    “So how old are you?”
    “I’m forty-two.”
    Surprised, she stopped and turned to look at him more closely. “No way! You barely look thirty.”
    “We age differently. We have longer lives than humans do. You will now, as well.”
    “I’m twenty-four. What will I look like in ten years?”
    “Much the same most likely. Your hair’ll get thicker. You’ll be more resistant to disease and cold. Your eyes will take on a more—I don’t know how to describe it to you—I suppose, a more magical look, the closer to the full moon you get. Your eyes are already so beautiful, such an otherworldly color. In wolf form they’ll be incredible.”
    A blush crept over her cheeks. “Does it hurt?”
    “The transformation?”
    She nodded.
    “Well, it’s hard for me to say because I was born a werewolf. Most natural wolves are able to change starting at the onset of puberty, Alphas often earlier. It’s natural and painless for us. Apparently the bones hurt a bit as you change, especially the first time. Henry likens it to growing pains. But it happens quickly and there’s nothing on earth like being a wolf.”
    “Can you talk to each other?”
    “Yes, but not in words. The Pack shares a common mental link. We send short bursts of sensation, pictures, to each other. There’s also a lot of touching, growling, howling, whining.”
    “Are there fights?”
    “Yes. Over territory. Over females. Most of the time it’s more just show than anything else. Sometimes, though, especially if females and territory are involved, it can be bloody.” He went on to explain that the Cherchez territory spanned from just east of the Cascades to the Puget Sound and north to Vancouver and south to Eugene, Oregon. There were apparently a whole series of complicated treaties and agreements to keep the Packs from fighting with each other.
    “Everyone else is scattered from Olympia to Bellingham. Most of them will be here at least a few times a year and always at Gatherings. We have one at least once a quarter and more often for celebrations like marriages, birthdays, births, that sort of thing.”
    “That’s only seven women, including me. You said there were nine. Who are the two others?”
    “Perri lives with her Mate, my youngest brother, Devon, in Portland. Unfortunately, she can’t have any children. She was in a car accident two years ago and almost died.”
    “How awful for them, but thank god she’s alive.”
    “Of course! I didn’t mean to make it sound as if all I cared about was her ability to have children. But children are important to us, we don’t have very many in the Pack right now.”
    She skirted that one for a moment. “Okay and the ninth?”
    “Oh. Well, that’s Johanna.”
    He said it so quickly she stopped in her tracks, turning to him with one eyebrow raised. “Okay, I may be new to the wolf thing but not to the woman thing. Who is she and what is she to you?”
    Busted. A wry smile twisted his lips. “As for what she is to me? She’s a female member of my Pack. We dated for a while. She hoped to be more to me than she was, and when I figured that out I stopped it. I knew she wasn’t my Mate, and I didn’t want to lead her on.”
    “Ah, and she’s still hung up on you?”
    “For a woman who doesn’t know if she’s going to be staying here, you sure are curious.”
    “Yeah, spit it out. We both know that I’m not going anywhere.”
    He smiled at that, white teeth gleaming. He hugged her tightly and she allowed herself to glory in the full-body contact for a few long moments before pushing him off.
    “Spill.”
    He sighed but his smile still lurked. “She’s confused. She’s been courted by many other Pack members but finds a